Fate grinding should return

[TeraRamis]

I've recently resubbed to the game and have been leveling a number of alts - most of them DPS (I want to eventually main Sage, but that's a while off, and I need a distraction until them). As far as I can tell, queues for DPS on the leveling roulette tend to average about 8-15 minutes - it can be more; it can be less, but that's about what you wind up with at most hours of the day.

Simply put: fate grinding is faster experience that. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is much faster experience than that. I might gain - at best - three quarters of a level in a single dungeon over the course of 30ish minutes (40 including the queue). Provided that there are 2-3 people working fates in an area, I seem to average at least half that time for a full level. In fact, the experience gains seem to be almost incomparable.

The essential element, of course, is that it's not faster if you're solo - especially after about level 35ish, when the boss fates become very difficult (if not impossible) for a DPS job to do alone. Stack 2-3 additional people into that mix, though, and it's cake.

I just think it's a shame that we can't go back to the days when people zerged fates to level. I know that a lot of you found it boring... but so is sitting in queues for 10+ minutes, just to run the same 2-3 dungeons over and over again. At least I met people when fate grinding; at least the scenery changed a little; at least the action was pretty much constant.

That's all.

[SturmChurro]

Buying a boost is probably the best option. I think even SE has suggested it.

[TeraRamis]

Buying a boost is probably the best option. I think even SE has suggested it.

Yeah, but I don't really want to boost. Firstly, because I never really feel as comfortable with the job as I'd like to be. Second, because I don't feel like I've earned anything (this isn't an indictment of boosting - I have boosted a few jobs myself; not attacking anyone for doing it). Thirdly, because it's kind of contrary to the goal of playing the game (I don't really care for Shadowbringers' endgame [again, that's just me]) - rushing to the end just seems... contrary to what I'm trying to do. But so does sitting in queues.

[Artemiz]

I must admit I did enjoy a F.A.T.E. farm from time to time back in 2.x and it was better than sitting in queues.

You can use squadrons though if the queues are long, I'm not sure what the minimum level is though but they aren't too slow in the dungeon and better than a slow DF party to be honest.

[TeraRamis]

I want to add one other thing. This is, to a degree, selfish, stupid, and irrelevant, but fate grinding made the world feel alive and populated in a way it just doesn't now. Even if I wasn't actively leveling, I loved seeing people out and about in the world - not just loitering in cities, waiting for their next group to pop up.

[MicahZerrshia]

I would love to see them do something to bring ppl back into the world but idk about fates. Now if they revamped the system and gave us new objectives instead of the same 5 fates again and again, or made it so that fates had some sort of impact on the world. Maybe add a ranking system in or use campaign from ffxi as a template for more. That would make them much much more worthwhile.

As it stands now tho, fates are about the most boring, underdeveloped and overused content in the game. I mean, they even had to bribe us to do fates in ShB by adding tokens and locking away items behind them, so that alone I think is a huge tell what the population at large feels about them at this point.

[hobostew]

I remember back in ARR people whined and whined that they were too easy so the response from SE was to bloat them up with HP in HW and onwards which basically killed the efficiency of fate grinding. POTD was pretty much the final nail since it provided people with an even lower effort way to get exp. Killing weak trash in a room that looks the same as every other room is way better than fate trains in the overworld though amirite guys?

[TeraRamis]

I remember back in ARR people whined and whined that they were too easy so the response from SE was to bloat them up with HP in HW and onwards which basically killed the efficiency of fate grinding. POTD was pretty much the final nail since it provided people with an even lower effort way to get exp. Killing weak trash in a room that looks the same as every other room is way better than fate trains in the overworld though amirite guys?

I hate POTD. People are always in such a rush; are so absolutely angry if you, say, go for an item or explore an unnecessary room. It makes me never want to go back.

[Artemiz]

I remember back in ARR people whined and whined that they were too easy so the response from SE was to bloat them up with HP in HW and onwards which basically killed the efficiency of fate grinding. POTD was pretty much the final nail since it provided people with an even lower effort way to get exp. Killing weak trash in a room that looks the same as every other room is way better than fate trains in the overworld though amirite guys?

If there is one thing that seems to be the same in every game ever it's that players whine and moan that it should be better, while putting in 8 hours a day for a decade. Then, when the devs listen and change stuff another group either finds something else to whine about, or people who liked it the old way start whining instead.

I used to have this at work all the time until I learned to just ignore them, people would moan about something so I'd sort it out and the next day, or even later the same day, they would find something else to whine about. It never ends.

[MicahZerrshia]

I hate POTD. People are always in such a rush; are so absolutely angry if you, say, go for an item or explore an unnecessary room. It makes me never want to go back.

But that is because, just like doing fates, speed running POTD is the most efficient way to do it since the exp you get comes from finishing the 10 floor run. Even hunting silver chests and leveling up your aetherpool is slowed down by killing everything and popping every chest. If you are just slowly meandering around, looking at all the rooms and killing all the things you are doing the equivalent of just pulling one pack of mobs at a time or not using aoes, which is also the type of play style that is going to get you booted from a dungeon or make you enemy #1 in your party.

If you want to take your time and see everything, you have the option to do it solo so you don't waste 3 other ppls time, making this a non-issue.